Department for Transport

Transport: EU Law

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the European Commission's draft Regulation supplementing Regulation (EC) No 1071/2009 with regard to the classification of serious infringements of the Union rules, which may lead to the loss of good repute by the road transport operator; and what his policy is on the proposals in that draft Regulation.

Claire Perry: The adoption of this measure is an existing obligation under 1071/2009. The effect for the UK will be low as existing monitoring of operators by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) already takes into account frequency of minor offences when recommending if the competent authority should commence an action regarding the repute of an operator. The UK is content with the regulation but has questioned the practicality of the implementation date of January 2016.

Travel

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what predictions are made by the National Transport Model from 2015 onwards for the (a) average number of trips and stages made annually per person in England and (b) average length of trips by transport mode in the (i) low, (ii) medium and (iii) high growth scenarios.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department for Transport has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the savings to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency generated by the abolition of the tax disc will be returned to the Treasury.

Claire Perry: The Department receives funding from Her Majesty’s Treasury for the collection of vehicle excise duty. As abolishing the tax disc has led to a reduction in administration costs, the funding received has been reduced.

Transport Direct

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many individual visits there were to the Transport Direct website in each of the last five years.

Claire Perry: The number of individual visits to the Transport Direct Portal for each of the last 5 years was:2010 – 20,006,2252011 – 21,895,7182012 – 21,823,2462013 – 21,475,2002014 – 14,848,951(Jan to Sept when it was closed down)

Railways: Learning Disability

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what provision is made for rail passengers under the Think Autism strategy; what steps he has taken to raise awareness of the needs of rail passengers with learning and developmental disabilities; and what recent discussions he has held with train operating companies and Network Rail about the structure and effectiveness of their disability awareness training courses.

Claire Perry: All customer facing rail staff and managers are required to receive disability awareness training relevant to all disabilities. It is for the industry to decide on the detailed content of the syllabus, but an overview of this training should be submitted to the Office of Rail Regulation annually. We will also intend to commission research on developing good practice guidance on disability awareness training for rail, taxi and bus staff which will address all disabilities, particularly cognitive impairments such as autism.

Invalid Vehicles: Excise Duties

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether a person using a mobility scooter without a number plate is required to pay vehicle excise duty.

Claire Perry: There is no requirement for a person using a mobility scooter without a number plate to pay vehicle excise duty.

Home Office

101 Calls

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effect of the cost of calling the 101 non-emergency number on use of the number.

Mike Penning: Consumer research undertaken by the Department following the launch of the 101 non-emergency service showed that the majority of respondents felt that the 15 pence call charge was reasonable.Research by Ofcom shows that a small fixed charge does not deter people from calling the service and reduces the likelihood of it being used inappropriately. The Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that 51% of the public are aware of 101. Awareness and use of the number have increased steadily since 2011, when 30% of the public were aware of it. Calls almost trebled during the period December 2011 to October 2014, increasing from 908,600 to 2,645,593.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she plans to attend the UNHCR Global Resettlement Pledging Conference on 9 December 2014.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with her international counterparts on the resettlement of Syrian refugees in (a) the UK and (b) Europe.

James Brokenshire: I am pleased to confirm that Karen Pierce, Ambassador and Permanent Representative, UK Mission to the UN and Other International Organisations, Geneva will represent the UK at the UNHCR Global Resettlement Pledging Conference on 9 December.With over 3.2 million Syrian refugees now in Syria’s neighbouring countries, the Government believes that humanitarian aid and actively seeking to end the conflict are the most effective ways for the UK to help the majority of those displaced, rather than large scale resettlement. We have made our position on this clear in relevant discussions with international partners and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). We are aware that states have responded to the crisis in different ways; it is right that the international community should consider all available means to relieve the suffering of Syrians displaced by the conflict. However, we strongly believe that we should continue to focus on aid rather than resettlement as the best way for the UK to maximise our impact. To complement our humanitarian aid, we operate the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation scheme to relocate the most vulnerable displaced Syrians who cannot be supported effectively long term in the region to the UK. This is in addition to our consideration of asylum claims lodged in the UK under our normal rules.

101 Calls

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many calls have been made to the 101 non-emergency number in each month since it began operating.

Mike Penning: The 101 police non-emergency number was launched in England and Wales in December 2011. Police Scotland joined the service in April 2013 and British Transport Police and Police Service Northern Ireland joined in March 2014. The number of calls recorded by Vodafone for each month since the 101 service began operating is outlined in the following table. Monthly calls to 101MonthNumber of CallsDec-11908,600Jan-121,119,330Feb-121,184,619Mar-121,435,289Apr-121,411,854May-121,652,665Jun-121,613,180Jul-121,793,556Aug-121,805,039Sep-121,750,952Oct-121,869,345Nov-121,790,376Dec-121,614,478Jan-131,806,475Feb-131,711,863Mar-131,925,430Apr-131,981,357May-132,092,817Jun-132,150,765Jul-132,468,420Aug-132,298,656Sep-132,161,386Oct-132,247,907Nov-132,118,871Dec-132,016,084Jan-142,114,913Feb-142,051,587Mar-142,328,316Apr-142,321,836Feb-142,051,587Mar-142,328,316Apr-142,321,836May-142,488,839Jun-142,589,003Jul-142,832,191Aug-142,557,127Sep-142,638,006Oct-142,645,593TOTAL (Dec 11 – Oct 14)75,939,993

Asylum: Syria

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many refugees from Syria have been settled in the UK in each of the last 24 months; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immigrants: Detainees

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much compensation her Department has paid for unlawfully detaining individuals under immigration powers in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Syria

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, who will represent the UK in the UN High Commissioner for Refugees meeting on resettling Syria's refugees in December 2014.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Syria

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she last met the Refugee Council to discuss the number of Syrian refugees that have been settled in the UK.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Northern Ireland

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications have been received from asylum seekers temporarily resident in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years; and how many such applications have been successful.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Asylum: Syria

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Syrian nationals have been returned under the Dublin Regulation to (a) Bulgaria, (b) Italy and (c) Greece in each of the last five years.

James Brokenshire: The number of Syrian nationals transferred to Bulgaria, Greece and Italy under the Dublin Convention and the later Dublin II Regulations, because those States are responsible for examining their asylum claims, is shown in the table below:  20092010201120122013Bulgaria0000*Greece**000Italy00**12*represents a figure below 5.The figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols.

Detention Centres

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will halt any expansion of the immigration detention estate until the report from the inquiry by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Migration has been published.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Detention Centres

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the annual running costs of the immigration detention estate are.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Police: Resignations

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of police officers left the police service in each police force area in (a) Suffolk, (b) England and (c) Wales (i) within two to five years, (ii) within five to 10 years and (iii) after more than 10 years of joining the service in each year since 2004.

Mike Penning: The tables provided contains data on the number of police officer leavers (headcount) and police officer wastage rates, by the requested length of service, for each police force area in England and Wales between 2003/04 to 2010/11.These figures ceased to be collected from 2011/12 onwards.   



Police officers who have left the police force
(Excel SpreadSheet, 55.89 KB)

Entry Clearances: Kuwait

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will place in the Library a copy of the business case for extending the electronic visa waiver scheme to Kuwait.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Armed Forces: Libya

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answers of 17 November 2014 to Question 213402 and of 11 November 2014 to Question 213405, how many of the Libyan service personnel who were in receipt of military training in the UK since June 2014 have been returned to Libya.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Entry Clearances: Kuwait

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will place in the Library a copy of the impact assessment for extending the electronic visa waiver scheme to Kuwait.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Travel Restrictions: Ethiopia

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Ethiopian nationals are on the UK travel exclusion list.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Proceeds of Crime

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the Metropolitan Police Service review on criminal finances that was produced in 2012.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 21 November 2014



The Metropolitan Police Service conducted an internal review of the management and deployment of its financial investigators. Publication of the review is a matter for the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime and the Metropolitan Police Service.

Travel Restrictions: Malawi

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Malawi nationals are on the UK travel exclusion list.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Sexting: Young People

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department has issued to mobile telephone companies on their legal obligations in respect of the sending and storing of nude and sexually explicit images of people under the age of 18 by their customers.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

British Indian Ocean Territory

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from hon. Members on the forthcoming KPMG study into resettlement of the Chagos Islands.

James Duddridge: Since work on the study began in January 2014, FCO Ministers and Parliamentarians, most notably the Chagos All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) as well as the hon. Gentleman, have continued to discuss its progress and timescales for the subsequent policy review by Ministers. We are aware of specific representations from my hon friend the Member for Islington North (Jeremy Corbyn), Chair of the Chagos APPG, who has written four times to FCO Ministers, including the Foreign Secretary, about the policy review of resettlement of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) and right of return of the former islanders (Chagossians). In addition, my honourable friend himself has tabled three Parliamentary Questions (PQs), and my hon friend the Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell MP) has tabled one PQ on the resettlement feasibility study. The study is nearing completion and its draft final report will be circulated very shortly to allow for further consultation before it is finalised and published in the New Year.

Iran

Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: The IAEA Director General in his November 2014 report on the status of Iran’s nuclear programme reiterated concerns about the possible existence in Iran of undisclosed nuclear-related activities involving military organisations. We offer our full support to the IAEA in continuing to pursue the possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme.

North Korea

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether (a) his Department and (b) UK-contracted organisations have been able freely to choose the participants in UK-funded projects in North Korea.

Mr Hugo Swire: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office runs a range of programmes in the DPRK which support our country objectives. It is not possible to run projects in the DPRK without the agreement and cooperation of the DPRK authorities. When project proposals are discussed with the DPRK authorities, we identify which organisations we judge would be the most appropriate participants in the project. The DPRK authorities then nominate individual participants. We of course retain the right to reject participants and to withdraw funding if we are not satisfied.

North Korea

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will estimate the number of North Koreans who have taken part in UK-funded projects in North Korea in the last year for which figures are available.

Mr Hugo Swire: During the 2013-2014 Financial Year, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) funded a range of programmes in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in support of our country objectives. We estimate that during the last Financial Year, over 650 North Koreans participated in FCO-funded programmes. Our largest commitment, a programme of English Language teaching and training delivered through the British Council, trained approximately 450 teachers. In 2013, we also supported a number of small-scale projects which we estimate benefitted the lives of around 40,000 ordinary DPRK citizens.

Pakistan

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 31 October 2014 to Question 211909, what recent discussions he has had with (a) the Pakistani government and (b) his EU counterparts on the case of Aasia Bibi.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Since my previous answer the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) met Prime Minister Sharif on 13 November and raised our concerns about Pakistan’s blasphemy law. We will continue to raise our concerns about this and similar cases at the highest levels in Pakistan and engage through the EU and likeminded countries to push for progress.

Iran

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage Iran to clarify issues relating to possible military dimensions of its nuclear material and implement the additional protocol.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We offer our full support to the IAEA in its efforts to address the possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme. We continue to call on Iran to cooperate fully by providing immediate IAEA access to sites, persons, documents and information as requested by the Agency. In a comprehensive agreement, Iran will need to comply fully with its Additional Protocol to reassure the international community of the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme.

Zimbabwe

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the government of Zimbabwe on the (a) democratic process and (b) seizure of land.

James Duddridge: As set out in the FCO's last quarterly update to the Human Rights and Democracy Report, we continue to have concerns about the situation in Zimbabwe. Through our Embassy in Harare, we regularly raise issues of human rights, democracy and respect for the rule of law, including land and property rights, with the Government. We will continue to support the aspirations of the Zimbabwean people for a more democratic, stable and prosperous Zimbabwe.

Visits Abroad

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2014 to Question 214210, what the cost to his Department was of providing support to the Scottish Minister for External Affairs and International Development on his visits to (a) Geneva in November 2014, (b) Brussels in July 2014, (c) Brussels in June 2014, (d) Vancouver and San Francisco in April 2014, (e) Vienna in February 2014, (f) UAE and Qatar in November 2013, (g) Pakistan in October 2013, (h) India, Delhi and Mumbai in October 2013, (i) Geneva in September 2013, (j) Latvia in July 2013, (k) China and Hong Kong in June 2013 and (l) Hanover in May 2013.

Mr David Lidington: I refer to my previous answers (213577, 214210) on this matter. The UK’s global diplomatic network - employing over 14,000 people in 267 Embassies, High Commissions, Consulates and other offices in 154 countries and 12 Overseas Territories around the world – works to achieve the international policy objectives that benefit the whole of the UK, including promoting Scottish companies and products, its culture, and Scotland as a destination for investment, tourism and study. However, the information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Colombia

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on developments in the peace process in Colombia; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire: We are aware that President Santos suspended the peace process negotiations following the kidnap of Brigadier-General Ruben Dario Alzate, Corporal Jorge Rodriguez Contreras, and a civilian lawyer, Gloria Urrego, on Sunday 16 November. We welcome the reports that an agreement has now been reached to release Brigadier-General Alzate and his colleagues.We strongly support the peace negotiations and would welcome their resumption at the earliest opportunity.

Visits Abroad

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 November 2014 to Question 214210, what the cost to his Department was of providing support to the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs on his visits to (a) Dublin in October 2014, (b) Brussels in October 2014, (c) Italy in October 2014, (d) Ireland in May 2014, (e) Poland in May 2014, (f) Paris in April 2014, (g) Helsinki in March 2013, (h) Paris in December 2013, (i) Denmark and Sweden in December 2014, (j) Brussels in November 2013, (k) Rome in October 2013, (l) Philadelphia in July 2013, (m) Venice in May 2013, (n) Dublin in May 2013 and (o) Berlin in April 2013.

Mr David Lidington: I refer to my previous answers (213577, 214210) on this matter. The UK’s global diplomatic network - employing over 14,000 people in 267 Embassies, High Commissions, Consulates and other offices in 154 countries and 12 Overseas Territories around the world – works to achieve the international policy objectives that benefit the whole of the UK, including promoting Scottish companies and products, its culture, and Scotland as a destination for investment, tourism and study. However, the information requested is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Northern Ireland Office

Human Rights

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what discussions she has had with the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice on the recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights on the investigation of historic cases linked to the Troubles; and if she will make a statement.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: I meet with the Northern Ireland Minister of Justice regularly and we discuss a range of issues relating to Northern Ireland’s troubled past including historic cases.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

New Businesses: Hackney

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many new businesses were started in Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency in each of the last five years.

Matthew Hancock: The estimated number of business start-ups (rounded) in the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency, according to BankSearch data, for the years 2008 to 2013 are shown in the table below. YearTotal estimated number of business start-ups in Hackney North and Stoke Newington200810902009119020101410201115902012157020131450 Source: BankSearch, based on the number of new business bank accounts opened.

Travel

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what total amount his Department spent on ministerial travel by (a) the Government Car and Despatch Agency and (b) other car hire in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2008-09 and (iii) 2009-10.

Jo Swinson: The amount spent by the Department on ministerial travel has already been published and information on each respective financial year can be found at:   (i) http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080722/wmstext/80722m0008.htm (ii) http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090716/wmstext/90716m0009.htm (iii) http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101028/wmstext/101028m0001.htm#10102827000372   Car hire costs relating to Departmental staff were not centrally collated in the above financial years and could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

Open University

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how much was paid in grants to the Open University to provide education to prisoners in each of the last 10 years.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the cost of providing prison university education was in each of the last 10 years.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many prisoners have studied for a university degree whilst in prison in each of the last 10 years.

Nick Boles: Most prisoners who study Higher Education (HE) in custody do so through the Open University (OU). Prior to September 2012, the costs of prisoners’ tuition were met from public funds in an arrangement that broadly mirrored the Grant arrangements for other part-time HE students. From September 2012, prisoners have been required to take out, and then repay, Tuition Fee loans in the same way as other learners. The OU’s additional costs for delivering in custody are met through a Grant from the Department. Table 1 below shows a breakdown of grant payments in each of the last 10 years. The costs of providing prison university education are found from a variety of sources and gathering the data could only be undertaken at disproportionate cost. Table 2 gives a breakdown of the number of prisoners studying towards an Open University degree whilst in prison in each of the last 10 years. There may be a very small number of prisoners, each year, who will have commenced HE with Universities other than the OU whilst on Release on Temporary Licence. We have no central data on these learners and therefore they are not included in the figures.  Table 1BIS Grant payments to the Open University for additional costs for delivering OU learning in custody from 2005-06  Financial yearAmount of Grant (£000s)2005-06*2242006-07*2342007-08*2872008-092662009-108702010-118952011-128952012-139122013-14*7972014-15981   *  where indicated, the table shows available data on Grant funding drawn down rather than Grant available. Table 2Number of prisoners studying towards an Open University degree whilst in prison from 2004/05  Academic yearOU students (new and continuing)2004/051,1282005/061,3922006/071,4822007/081,5622008/091,7392009/101,8822010/111,8092011/121,8752012/131,3852013/141,117   England onlyInformation supplied by the Open University

Business

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what additional support he plans to give small and medium-sized businesses in the UK.

Matthew Hancock: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Copyright: Film

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that any proposals from the European Commission for reform of the European copyright framework do not undermine the incentive to invest in film and television content in the UK.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government wants to ensure that any proposals on European copyright reform serve to deepen the digital single market and encourage innovation, without undermining incentives to invest in the creative content that we all enjoy, including from the film and television sectors.   The Government will be engaging with the European Commission across the digital single market agenda to promote a single market which supports economic growth and enables businesses and consumers to enjoy the opportunities presented by the digital economy.

Department for Education

Home Education

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the number of children being homeschooled in England and Wales.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information her Department collects on homeschooled children in England and Wales.

Mr Nick Gibb: The Department for Education does not collect information regarding the number of home schooled children. It is parents’ responsibility to ensure that their children undergo full time education and to assist them with that, the state provides a wide-spread network of state funded schools. Parents have the freedom not to avail themselves of that service and to educate their children privately, or at home, and they do not have to notify those decisions to the state.

Children: Day Care

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the (a) median and (b) mean wage was for childcare workers in each of the last five years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education’s Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey[1] collects data on the wages for childcare workers.Tables providing figures on the mean wage for childcare workers for 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013 are provided in the attachment. The survey was not carried out in 2012 and so no figures are available for that year. Figures showing the median wage for childcare workers in each of the last five years are not readily available. [1] www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2013



Childcare Workers Mean Pay 2009-2014
(Excel SpreadSheet, 131.5 KB)

Children: Day Care

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of workers in the childcare sector who are employed on zero-hour contracts.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education has not made an estimate of the proportion of workers in the childcare sector who are employed on zero-hour contracts.

Pre-school Education: Disability

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the provision of nursery care for children with disabilities.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Under the Childcare Act 2006, it is the duty of all local authorities to work together (with parents and providers) to assess and ensure that there is sufficient childcare available locally to meet the needs of families and children in their area, including for those with children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEN). The Early Years Foundation Stage framework promotes equality of opportunity. Relevant early years providers must have regard to the SEN Code of Practice. Maintained nursery schools must identify a member of staff to act as special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) and other providers (in group provision) are expected to identify a SENCO. The new 0-25 SEN Code of Practice places great emphasis on the importance of early identification of needs to ensure young people with SEN get the early support they need to make a successful transition into primary school and beyond. All early years providers must have arrangements in place to identify and support children with SEN or disabilities.

Religion: GCSE

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received on proposed content for the new religious studies GCSE.

Mr Nick Gibb: The Secretary of State for Education has spoken to a number of representatives from the religious and non-religious communities about proposed content for the new religious studies GCSE, which was published for consultation on 7 November and closes on 29 December.

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent representations she has received on the teaching of British values as they relate to same sex marriage and relationships; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick Gibb: The Secretary of State for Education has had many representations on the question of same sex marriage and relationships, but none relate to the teaching of British values because that is a different matter. All schools have an important part to play in preparing their pupils for life in modern Britain by promoting the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. In addition, all schools are already required to abide by the Equality Act 2010 and promote principles which encourage respect for other people, with particular regard to protected characteristics. It is right to respect other people, even if you do not agree with their way of life. This is a fundamental part of preparation for life in modern Britain, and a principle with which all schools should agree.

University Technical Colleges

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria her Department uses to decide whether to approve an application to set up a university technical college; and whether such criteria includes the number of (a) students already recruited and (b) surplus secondary places available in the local authority area.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Department for Education publishes a ‘How to Apply’ guide which sets out the criteria used to assess applications to open a university technical college (UTC). The latest version of this guidance is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/utc-application-guide. The assessment criteria include providing evidence that students and parents need this UTC in this area.

Academies

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what resources her Department has provided to Academy chains for the development of teaching resources since May 2010.

Mr Edward Timpson: The Department for Education pays grants to academy sponsors when they take over failing schools. These are intended to support the school’s improvement. The Department makes no specific requirement that sponsors spend this grant funding on the development of teaching resources.

Teaching Methods

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what arrangements she has in place to reclaim funds paid from the public purse which have been used to help develop teaching resources subsequently sold commercially.

Mr David Laws: It is the Department for Education’s policy to have copyright in materials produced under contracts or grants assigned to the Crown. Where it benefits the Department we allow contractors/grant recipients to retain ownership of copyright but to provide the Department with a copyright license in the material. Breaches of copyright in material assigned to the Crown are dealt with by Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Breaches of contract by contractors or grant recipients, including misuse of material which has been licensed to the Department, are dealt with by the Department subject to legal advice.

Pre-school Education: Admissions

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many nursery places have been available in (a) Bethnal Green and Bow constituency, (b) Tower Hamlets, (c) London and (d) England in each year since 2010.

Mr Sam Gyimah: I have asked Ofsted to respond using the data they hold on registered nursery places. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, will write to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response will be placed in the House Libraries. Some providers such as schools with nursery provision for children aged three or over are exempt from registration. The number of places therefore may not include the full range of early years provision available in the area. The Department for Education’s Childcare and Early Years Providers Survey[1] collects data on all registered childcare places, including those in maintained schools and nurseries. These figures are therefore more comprehensive than the Ofsted figures; however data is only available at a national and regional level. The attached table provides data for 2010, 2011 and 2013 for England and London. Data is not available for 2012. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-providers-survey-2013 



Registered childcare places in London and England 
(Word Document, 45.5 KB)

Ministry of Justice

Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of offences taken into consideration for an offender has been (a) on one sentencing occasion and (b) over that offender's whole offending history.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the highest number of concurrent prison sentences served by one offender at any one time was in each of the last five years.

Mike Penning: The court has discretion as to how sentences should be served. The independent Sentencing Council issued a guideline, Offences Taken Into Consideration and Totality, which all courts must follow so that there is a consistency of approach. The court has discretion as to whether or not to take offences into consideration (TICs), but where it does so the court should pass a total sentence which reflects all offending behaviour. The sentence must be just and proportionate and must not exceed the statutory maximum for the convicted offence. The guideline also says that there is no inflexible rule governing whether sentences should be structured as concurrent or consecutive components but, again, the overriding principle is that the overall sentence must be just and proportionate.The Ministry of Justice Court Proceeding Database holds information on offences provided by the statute under which proceedings are brought but not all the specific circumstances of each case. Data on offences taken into consideration are not available from the information provided centrally to the Ministry of Justice. This detailed information is not reported to Justice Statistical Analytical Services due to their size and complexity and as such, it can only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The Ministry of Justice’s extract of the Police National Computer (PNC) from which MoJ uses to publish official statistics on offenders’ criminal histories, while it holds information on those offenders who were cautioned or convicted for recordable offences in England and Wales, it does not in all (most) cases record data on’ disposal qualifiers’ the variable which allows us to identify concurrent prison sentences served. Data on concurrent prison sentences served is therefore incomplete and unreliable. To provide the information requested, we would be required to contact all the courts in England and Wales and asking them to search individual case files in order to establish whether they hold information on concurrent prison sentences. To collate the information you require, would incur disproportionate cost.

Domestic Violence

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of cases in courts marked as domestic violence incidents related to (a) male perpetrators against female partners and (b) all other forms of domestic violence in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mike Penning: This government is committed to tackling domestic violence and abuse and to delivering a better response for the victims of these appalling crimes. We have ring-fenced £40 million for victims’ services; piloted and rolled out Clare’s Law and domestic violence protection orders; extended the definition of domestic abuse to cover controlling behaviour and teenage relationships; run two successful campaigns to challenge perceptions of abuse; placed Domestic Homicide Reviews on a statutory footing to make sure lessons are learnt from individual tragedies; criminalised forced marriage and consulted on the creation of a single criminal offence of domestic abuse. The Ministry of Justice Court Proceeding Database holds information on offences provided by the statute under which proceedings are brought but not all the specific circumstances of each case. Data on those proceeded against, found guilty and sentenced for offences involving domestic violence, such as threatening behaviour, violence or abuse between adults are not separately identified in the data reported centrally to the Ministry of Justice. Furthermore, it is not possible to separately identify the relationship between defendant and victim, and their gender. This detailed information is not reported to Justice Statistical Analytical Services due to their size and complexity and as such, it can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Sentencing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of custodial sentences for a second or subsequent offence were handed down to run concurrently with another custodial sentence in each of the last four years.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of offenders being sentenced to a custodial sentence for a second or subsequent offence were given a concurrent custodial sentence in each of the last four years.

Mike Penning: Whilst crime is falling, sentences are getting more severe. Under this Government fewer individuals are entering the criminal justice system for the first time but those who do offend are more likely to go to prison, and for longer. The court has discretion as to how sentences should be served. The independent Sentencing Council issued a guideline, Offences Taken Into Consideration and Totality, which all courts must follow so that there is a consistency of approach. The guideline says that there is no inflexible rule governing whether sentences should be structured as concurrent or consecutive components but the overriding principle is that the overall sentence must be just and proportionate. The general approach on whether sentences should be served consecutively or concurrently as it applies to determinate custodial sentences, is that concurrent sentences will ordinarily be appropriate where the offences arise out of the same incident, or where there is a series of offences of the same or similar kind. Consecutive sentences will normally be appropriate where the offences arise out of unrelated facts or incidents, the offences are of a similar kind but the overall criminality will not be sufficiently reflected by concurrent sentences, or where one or more offences qualifies for a minimum sentence and concurrent sentences would improperly undermine that minimum. The guideline deals in more detail with various circumstances including where the offender is serving an existing custodial sentence and is being sentenced to custody for another offence. The information requested is complex and needs to be extracted from raw data, formatted and checked. This will take some time and I will therefore write to my honourable Friend as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence

Libya

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated cost is of the programme to train Libyan soldiers in the UK.

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much has been spent to date on training Libyan soldiers in the UK.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the amount that will be received from the Libyan government in recompense for the training of Libyan armed forces personnel in the UK.

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total cost to the public purse has been of training Libyan armed forces personnel in each of the last three years.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost is to his Department under each cost heading of training Libyan service personnel in the UK in each year since 2011.

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the cost was of the recent training operations for Libyan soldiers.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much the Government charged the government of Libya for training Libyan forces; and how much of that amount has been received.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 17 November 2014



The additional costs of the recent training programme for Libyan Armed Forces personnel is given in the attached table: The Libyan government has agreed to reimburse the Ministry of Defence for these costs. They have already paid £2.5 million, and we will continue to negotiate with them over paying the balance. In addition, small numbers of Libyan Armed Forces have been trained in UK staff colleges over the last three years and in Libya by the Defence Advisory Team. These activities cost approximately £0.5 million in financial year (FY) 2012-13 and approximately £1.7 million in FY 2013-14. The forecast for this activity in FY 2014-15 is £0.2 million.  



Costs to UK of Training Libyan Service Personnel
(Word Document, 30 KB)

Libya

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions his Department has had with (a) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and (b) the Home Office on the decision to return 90 Libyan recruits from Bassingbourn; and if he will make a statement.

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with (a) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and (b) the Home Office on decisions to return Libyan personnel home because of events at Bassingbourn base; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Mark Francois: Holding answer received on 20 November 2014



During the planning, implementation and conclusion of training, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) worked closely with the Cabinet Office, Home Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Libyan command and supervisory team, Defence Section of the Libyan Embassy in London, Cambridgeshire Police and the MOD Police. In particular, we worked closely with the Home Office, Libyan Defence Section and Libyan command and supervisory team to return trainees who withdrew during the programme and once training had concluded.

Travel

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what total amount his Department spent on ministerial travel by (a) the Government Car and Despatch Agency and (b) other car hire in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2008-09 and (iii) 2009-10.

Mr Philip Dunne: Ministry Of Defence expenditure on Ministerial travel in officially provided cars has been as follows:Financial Year(a) Government Car & Despatch Agency(b) Other Car Hire (1)2007-08NilNot Separately Recorded2008-09£85,100£205,0002009-10£106,343£218,090(1) The figures quoted represent an estimate of the Defence Ministers' use of MOD-provided cars.Road transport for the Secretary of State for Defence, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Mr Fallon), is normally provided by the Metropolitan Police. The other Ministers have, in accordance with the Ministerial Code published on 21 May 2010, given up their cars with a dedicated driver to reduce costs and now share central MOD pool vehicles with senior staff working in the MOD Main Building. Defence Ministers therefore no longer make use of the service provided by the Government Car and Despatch Agency.

Army Reserve

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what change there has been in the latest projected cost of the Army Reserve reforms when compared to the initial cost estimates.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Government has allocated £1.8 billion to the Future Reserves programme which includes the expansion of the Army Reserve. The proportion of funding allocated to the Army remains sufficient to provide the development and enhancement measures planned for the Reserves under Army 2020, for example the pairing of units and enhanced provision of equipment.

Army: Sexual Harassment

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to page 33 of the Service Complaints Commissioner's Annual Report 2013, if he will place the results of the sexual harassment survey undertaken by the Army between March and April 2014 in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: Ministry of Defence officials are still reviewing the results of the survey and are due to provide me with advice shortly. As I have previously discussed with the hon. Member, these matters are taken very seriously and I will write to her after I have considered this advice.

Army Reserve

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average age is for (a) privates, (b) junior NCOs, (c) senior NCOs, (d) junior officers and (e) senior officers (i) in the Army Reserve and (ii) recruited into the Army Reserve since the commencement of Operation Fortify.

Mr Philip Dunne: The average ages by rank in the Army Reserve, and the average age of those recruited into the Army Reserve since the commencement of Operation Fortify as of 1 October 2014, are shown in the table:  Privates Junior NCOSenior NCO Junior Officers Senior Officers Average Age Army Reserve Group A29 Years 37 Years 46 Years 42 Years 51 Years Average Age on intake, 1 January 2013 – 30 September 201426 Years 33 Years 42 Years 36 Years 51 Years  Explanatory Notes: The categorisation of ranks is as follows: Junior NCOs = Lance Corporal and CorporalSenior NCOs = Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Warrant Officer Class 1 and Warrant Officer Class 2Junior Officers = 2nd Lieutenant, Lieutenant, Captain and MajorSenior Officers = Lieutenant Colonel and above Operation Fortify was launched in January 2013. The intake figures are for the period 1st January 2013 - 30th September 2014. The figures are for Army Reserve Group A which includes Volunteer Reserves, Mobilised Reserves, High Readiness Reserves and Officer Training Corps support and training staff and Officers under training. The figures exclude Army Reserve Group B (University Officer Cadets and Tech Bursars/Defence Technical Officer Engineer Entry Scheme members under training and Non-Regular Permanent Staff), Army Reserve Group C (Sponsored Reserves) and the Full Time Reserve Service. Intake to Group A includes all intake from all sources including recruits who are new to the Armed Forces, re-joins and transfers from other Armed Forces populations.

Army Reserve

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average age is of all ranks in the (a) Army Reserve and (b) Army Reserve infantry.

Mr Philip Dunne: The average ages of all ranks in the Army Reserve and Army Reserve infantry as of 1 October 2014 are shown below: Average age Army Reserve Group A - All ranks 37 Average age Army Reserve Group A - Infantry only 35 The figures are for Army Reserve Group A which includes Volunteer Reserves, Mobilised Reserves, High Readiness Reserves and Officer Training Corps support and training staff and Officers under training. The figures exclude Army Reserve Group B (University Officer Cadets and Tech Bursars/Defence Technical Officer Engineer Entry Scheme members under training and Non-Regular Permanent Staff) and Army Reserve Group C (Sponsored Reserves) and the Full Time Reserve Service.

West Africa: Ebola

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will introduce a medal for service personnel and medical staff deployed to West Africa as part of the fight against Ebola.

Anna Soubry: Our Armed Forces are playing a significant role, in the fight against the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. The risk and rigor being faced by our Service personnel in the region is unique, and the situation is kept under review by the Operational Review Board. Officials are currently examining the issue of medallic recognition for those who have deployed.

Film

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on providing support or assistance for film or television projects.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry Of Defence (MOD) can provide support to film or television projects on a case by case basis. Each proposal is considered as to whether: the subject is a Defence communications priority; our Duty of Care to personnel and their personal security; operational security; the likely communications effect of participation or non-participation and the return on investment of Defence resources; and wider consequential relationships, including with other Government Departments and allies. The MOD can also assist film and programme makers under its income-generation scheme, whereby spare capacity is offered on a commercial payment basis in accordance with Treasury rules.

Film

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support and assistance his Department has offered to the makers of the film Kajaki.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Ministry Of Defence provided limited support to Pukka Films to assist them develop a script for their film 'Kajaki' by providing access to individuals who were involved in the central incident in the proposed film and who were still serving. This engagement ran from July 2012 to November 2013.

Department for Work and Pensions

Poverty: Bradford

Mr David Ward: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce child poverty in Bradford.

Esther McVey: The Government is committed to our goal of ending child poverty in the UK by 2020.   The 2014-17 Child Poverty Strategy outlines our plans to tackle the root causes of poverty, including worklessness, low earnings and educational failure. This approach reflects the reality of child poverty in the UK today and is the only way to achieve lasting change to protect the poorest in society.   Under this Government, 300,000 fewer children are in relative income poverty, around 390,000 fewer children are growing up in workless families, the attainment gap for deprived pupils has narrowed, and we have recently seen the largest annual fall in unemployment on record.[1]   But central Government cannot, by itself, end child poverty. Where people live matters. This Government has taken action to give local areas more freedom to do what people want and need locally including by providing local data that helps users identify specific local challenges. Local Authorities are required to have their own local child poverty strategies.   Further information is outlined in the Child Poverty Strategy. Local data is also published in the child poverty basket of indicators.   Child Poverty Strategy: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-poverty-strategy-2014-to-2017   Child Poverty basket of indicators: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-poverty-basket-of-local-indicators   [1] Based on Labour Market Statistics published in October 2014. In June-August 2014, there were 538,000 fewer unemployed people compared to a year earlier.

Access to Work Programme

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether claimants are able to telephone Access to Work programme offices (a) in general and (b) to discuss late payment of monthly wages for their support workers.

Mr Mark Harper: All customers contacting Access to Work by telephone call a contact centre initially; details of their enquiry are taken and passed to the relevant team to arrange a call back. This applies to general enquiries and payment enquiries. The exception is when a customer has an application awaiting a decision; in these circumstances they will be provided with a name and direct contact number for an adviser.

Access to Work Programme

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what communication options are offered for claimants to contact Access to Work programme offices.

Mr Mark Harper: Customers can contact Access to Work by the following means:Telephone: 0345/0845 268 8489;E-mail: atwosu.london@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk; orTextphone: 0345 608 8753If a customer is unable to access any of the above communication options, they can appoint a third party to act on their behalf.

Access to Work Programme

Mr Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken by a local Access to Work office to process monthly claims from registered disabled persons for wages for their support workers was over the last 12 months.

Mr Mark Harper: Access to Work do not hold any assured data to enable an answer to this question.

Work Programme

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which Work Programme providers have achieved an excellent accreditation through the Merlin Standards since 2012.

Esther McVey: The following Work Programme providers have been accredited as ‘Excellent’ under the Merlin Standard since 2012: Serco - May 2014Avanta - May 2014G4S - June 2014Ingeus - June 2014Learn Direct - June 2014Maximus - June 2014NCG - June 2014Reed in Partnership – July 2014

Jobcentre Plus

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Jobcentre Plus key performance indicators in ensuring jobseekers secure sustainable employment.

Esther McVey: Current performance measures for DWP include the Off-flow rate, where work is a key destination. Sustained employment is a major focus of Universal Credit, and the Department is currently looking at ways to best reflect that in its performance indicators.

New Enterprise Allowance

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department has spent on the weekly allowance element of the new enterprise allowance in each month since that scheme's inception.

Esther McVey: The New Enterprise Allowance trailblazer started January 2011 with national roll out commencing August 2011. When the New Enterprise Allowance trailblazer started, the costs were not captured separately and were instead charged centrally with other trailblazer costs up to March 2011. Therefore for the period January 2011 to March 2011, I am unable to provide you with this information as we estimate that the cost of complying with your request would exceed the appropriate limit of £850. The costs were accounted for separately from April 2011. Please see below for a monthly breakdown from April 2011 up to the last complete reporting period (ending 31 October 2014) in 2014/15: -  Financial Year2011/122012/132013/142014/15April£1,367£1,323,194£2,434,723£2,870,327May£8,131£1,420,508£2,683,946£2,667,964June£27,605£1,296,622£2,550,186£2,684,145July£54,670£1,493,485£2,981,498£3,024,793August£101,728£1,444,984£2,964,229£2,680,226September£181,167£1,352,747£2,827,923£2,745,898October£342,406£1,562,240£3,096,304£2,851,252November£552,606£1,457,114£2,789,670£0December£736,711£1,598,985£2,878,901£0January£900,634£1,695,756£2,629,614£0February£1,012,759£1,689,427£2,407,649£0March£1,184,146£1,941,084£2,496,733£0Total£5,103,930£18,276,147£32,741,377£19,524,607

Employment: Older People

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in other EU countries on the role of people aged over 50 in the EU labour market.

Steve Webb: The UK was represented by DWP officials at an event held in Brussels on ‘delivering longer working lives and higher retirement ages’ organised by the EU and the OECD on 12-13 November. The focus of the event was around: i. The Review of present State of retirement affairs across EU 28 - new challenges for labour market and social policies from the early exit routes and the linking of pensionable ages to life expectancy;ii. Identifying the conditions that encourage and enable people to work longer;iii. Discussions on how older workers that experience problems to work longer can be accommodated. We need to maintain focus on delivering jobs and growth. Strong national ownership of the necessary structural reforms by Member States is vital to achieving this.

Children: Poverty

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of housing costs on levels of child poverty.

Esther McVey: The Child Poverty Act 2010 sets out four income-based target measures of child poverty. Each of these measures is calculated on a before housing costs basis and therefore does not take into account the effect housing costs have on the levels of child poverty (as defined under the Act). Calculating poverty figures on an after housing costs basis can underestimate the true standard of living a child experiences as a family may make a choice to spend more on rent or mortgage to attain a higher standard of accommodation.   Estimates of the number and proportion of children in low income, on both a before and after housing costs basis, are published in the National Statistics Households Below Average Income (HBAI) series. These estimates can be found at the link below:   https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-hbai-199495-to-201213

Housing Benefit

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether responsibility for designating a bedroom for housing benefit purpose lies with his Department or with the social landlord.

Esther McVey: The responsibility for designating a bedroom lies with the social landlord.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Fisheries: Quotas

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what international swaps were conducted by the Marine Management Organisation on behalf of the UK for (a) rays and skate and (b) plaice; and what reasons were given for the level and type of each swap.

George Eustice: During 2014, the Marine Management Organisation approved 26 international swaps of ray quota. A total of 326.5 tonnes of rays were swapped out for other species, and 75.6 tonnes of ray quota were gained through international swaps.   Some 220 tonnes of plaice were swapped out during 2014, across a total of eight transactions.   These international quota swaps were discussed with the fishing industry and approved in order to acquire stocks that UK fishermen wish to catch.   Each proposed swap is considered on its merits.

Fisheries: Quotas

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the early year closure of skate, rays and plaice on the (a) economic position of and (b) effect on health and safety risks to English fishermen.

George Eustice: The Government is aware of the impact that closures have had on the local fishing industry. It is important that quota limits are not exceeded, in order to protect the long term future of the industry. Early closure is used only as a last resort.   Fishermen should not risk their safety, or that of their crew and vessel at any time. Safety must always be a vessel master’s priority, whether fishing, transiting or in port.

Marine Management Organisation

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she expects to publish the Triennial Review of the Marine Management Organisation.

George Eustice: We plan to publish the Review by the end of the year.

Fisheries: Quotas

Alison Seabeck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she was first made aware of the intention of the Marine Management Organisation to close the fisheries of (a) rays and skate and (b) plaice to under 10 metre boats.

George Eustice: The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Farming, Food and Marine Environment was informed of the closure of the skate and ray fishery in areas VI and VII (excluding area VIId) on 17 October 2014. The closure of the North Sea skates and rays and English Channel plaice fisheries to under 10 metre boats was notified to the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Farming, Food and the Marine environment on 27 October 2014.

Coastal Erosion

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps she has taken to reduce the effects of coastal erosion; and if she will make a statement.

Dan Rogerson: Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) is a devolved matter for each administration. Defra has allocated £36.7 million FCERM Grant-in-Aid in the 2014/15 financial year to help reduce the effects of coastal erosion in England.

Avian Influenza

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking in response to bird flu.

George Eustice: Immediate and robust action was taken as soon as suspicions of disease emerged. Tried and tested procedures for dealing with avian flu outbreaks are being followed.   A 10km restriction zone has been introduced and all 6,000 birds on the affected farm have been culled to prevent any potential spread of infection.   Defra is working closely with Public Health England which is responsible for human health and the Food Standards Agency, responsible for food safety.   Detailed investigations to discover the origin of the outbreak are ongoing.   The Secretary of State gave an oral update in the House on 17 November and gave more details on the action taken.

Fisheries

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that the Marine Maritime Organisation has sufficient resources accurately to measure fishing stocks.

George Eustice: The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) continuously monitors the level of uptake of all quota stocks to ensure they are being managed effectively. This includes acting to close fisheries where data shows that quota is likely to be exhausted. The Government is confident that the MMO continues to be suitably resourced to fulfil this role.

Dogs

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to monitor the disposal of commercial dog waste from breeding establishments and other places dogs may be kept.

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure that commercial dog waste from breeding establishments is not reaching the human or animal food chains and water supply.

George Eustice: Local authorities have powers under commercial dog breeding legislation to inspect such establishments. Inspectors are able to check that dog waste is being disposed of in accordance with guidance.Any waste produced may only be disposed of at a site that operates under an environmental permit or a registered exemption granted by the Environment Agency.

Fisheries: Quotas

Sir Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made since 11 November 2014 in sourcing additional ray and skate quotas through international swaps.

George Eustice: The Marine Management Organisation, on behalf of the Government, is continuing to try to secure international quota swaps from other Member States, but the quotas are in short supply and there are currently no pending swaps to bring skate and ray quotas into the UK.

Dogs

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department issues to commercial dog breeding establishments on the disposal of faeces, bedding, dog carcasses and other waste.

George Eustice: Commercial dog breeding establishments are licensed by local authorities. The Model Licence Conditions and Guidance for Dog Breeding Establishments 2013 reminds local authority inspectors and dog breeders how to dispose of dog waste and from where to get more detailed information on this issue.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Public Appointments

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on how many occasions his Department has made appointments by exception since 2010; and who was appointed for each such post.

Kris Hopkins: My Department recruits on the basis of fair and open competition, with candidates being appointed on the basis of merit. There are a very small number of exceptions, which are recognised by the Civil Service Commission; in our Department’s case, this is generally due to facilitate specific secondments from external organisations (for example, there were a series of fire secondments to provide support for the Olympics fire and security team), or to allow for appointments of individuals with specialised skillsets (for example, local audit) or for a time-limited project. The attached table gives a breakdown for each year since 2010-11, and to facilitate scrutiny, I have included 2009-10 to enable comparison with the use of exceptions under the last Administration. Figures for 2014-15 will be submitted in due course. Due to Data Protection obligations, it is not appropriate to disclose the identity of the individual staff concerned. More information on the civil Service Commission's guidance on recruitment exceptions can be found online at:http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Recruitment-Principles-April-2014.pdf (Annex A) More broadly, my Department has taken steps to open up job vacancies in the Department to a wider audience.



Table to PQ 213021
(Word Document, 22.5 KB)

Disabled Facilities Grants

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, if his Department will improve and update best practice guidance on providing disabled facilities grants.

Brandon Lewis: The sector led Homes Adaptations consortium published the latest guidance on the Disabled Facilities Grant to local authorities in October 2013 having been invited to update it by my Department. A copy can be found at:http://www.cot.co.uk/sites/default/files/ss-housing/public/home-adaptations-for-disabled-people.pdf

Fire Services

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent visits he and other Ministers in his Department have made to fire service bases in England.

Penny Mordaunt: I have visited the following Fire and Rescue Authorities since joining the Department in July 2014 - Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, East Sussex, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, London and West Midlands.

Fire Services: Industrial Disputes

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions his Department has had with the devolved administrations on the firefighters' pension dispute; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt: Officials from the Department meet regularly with the officials from the devolved administrations to discuss issues of common interest relating to the fire and rescue service, including the current dispute with the Fire Brigades Union over firefighter pension reform. Ministers correspond and have met with the fire and rescue services in the devolved nations.

Welfare Assistance Schemes

Mr Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he informed local authorities that dedicated funding for local welfare assistance schemes would no longer be available from April 2015 before the publication of the provisional local government finance settlement; and if he will make a statement.

Kris Hopkins: The Department for Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Fire Services: Cheshire

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when a Minister in his Department last visited Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service; and who was met on that visit.

Penny Mordaunt: I have met with the Chief Fire Officer of Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service on several occasions. In addition, my hon. Friend, the Member for Great Yarmouth (Brandon Lewis), visited Cheshire Fire and Rescue Authority last year (June 2013) in his capacity as the then Fire Minister. He attended the Retained Duty System Working Group for a question and answer session, had a tour of the Incident Command Training Suite and was updated on community fire safety. He met with the Chief Fire Officer, the Chairman of the Fire and Rescue Authority and other fire service staff present that day.

Fire Services: Pensions

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Fire Brigades Union on firefighters' pensions.

Penny Mordaunt: After extensive consultation, and numerous changes, the Government laid the regulations to implement the Firefighters’ Pension Scheme 2015 before Parliament on 28 October. This provides one of the best schemes in the public sector, with a firefighter who earns £29,000 and retires after a full career receiving a £19,000 a year pension at age 60. The reforms ensure that a greater proportion of firefighters are protected from the changes than any other large public service workforce. The Department continues to discuss the remaining detail of the pension reforms, including the transitional arrangements and new governance arrangements to apply from April 2015, with the Fire Brigades Union, other workforce representative bodies and the employers. Furthermore, these bodies are part of the joint fitness group facilitated by the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, Peter Holland. This group complements the consultation we published to put the key fitness principles onto a statutory footing through the Fire National Framework. We would encourage the Fire Brigades Union and all other representative bodies to respond to that consultation, which closes on 9 December. The consultation can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/firefighter-fitness-standards-and-assessment.

Scotland Office

Pay

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the relative pay of men and women among staff of his Department.

Mr Alistair Carmichael: The Scotland Office does not employ staff; all staff that join, do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other government bodies, principally the Scottish Government and the Ministry of Justice. Both of these bodies and other employers of Scotland Office staff hold information relating to pay and the diversity of staff. Additionally, information on the gender breakdown of staff by grade is published in the Office’s annual report. The annual report for 2013-14 is available in the House of Commons Library.

Unemployment: Young People

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many 18 to 24 year olds in Scotland had been unemployed for 12 months or more in each year since 2007.

Mr Alistair Carmichael: Latest official statistic shows that the number of young people (18-24 year olds) claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) has fallen dramatically from its peak as a result of the recession. The overall number of 18 to 24 year old JSA claimants fell by 21,000 between 2011 and 2014 or more than 52%. Those aged 18 to 24 year olds claiming JSA for more than 12 months fell by 4,500 to 2,700 or over 60%. Further details are available in the following table.  Claimant count - age and duration   ONS Crown Copyright Reserved [from Labour Market figures] DateAged 18-24Aged 18-24, claiming for over 12 months   October 200719,400400   October 200824,500300   October 200937,300800   October 201036,1001,700   October 201140,2002,800   October 201236,9007,200   October 201328,2005,500   October 201419,2002,700 Peak to Oct 2014 - level-21,000-4,500   Peak to Oct 2014 - percentage-52.2-62.5Claimants of Universal Credit are not yet included in the Claimant Count. An article provides further information: http://bit.ly/1p9mkq7 (pdf).

HM Treasury

Human Trafficking

Paul Blomfield: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2014 to Questions 212651 and 212652, how many cases of trafficking have been identified during targeted enforcement actions undertaken by HM Revenue and Customs.

Paul Blomfield: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 November 2014 to Questions 212651 and 212652, how many instances of slavery and servitude have been identified in operations in which HM Revenue and Customs has collaborated.

Mr David Gauke: I refer the honourable member to the response provided to his question 213233 raised on 4 November.

Travel

John Glen: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what total amount his Department spent on ministerial travel by (a) the Government Car and Despatch Agency and (b) other car hire in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2008-09 and (iii) 2009-10.

Andrea Leadsom: (a) This information has already been published and can be found at:   http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080722/wmstext/80722m0008.htmhttp://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090716/wmstext/90716m0009.htmhttp://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm101028/wmstext/101028m0001.htm#10102827000372   (b) Expenditure on other car hire could not be extracted without exceeding the statutory disproportionate costs threshold.

Network Rail

Mr Tom Harris: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what impact the reclassification of Network Rail as a government body has had on (a) the financial position of the Government and (b) the financial position of Network Rail; and if he will make a statement.

Danny Alexander: The impact of the reclassification on the government’s financial position is set out in the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook as at March 2014.

Buildings

Valerie Vaz: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many buildings his Department sold in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014.

Andrea Leadsom: The Treasury has not sold any buildings in any of these years.

Local Government Finance

Jonathan Edwards: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the effect of reductions in local government departmental expenditure limits on the block grants for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Danny Alexander: The impacts on budget allocations to the devolved administrations following changes in UK Government departmental allocations are set out at Spending Reviews and subsequent Budgets and Autumn Statements.

Local Government Finance: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received from the Welsh Assembly Government on local government departmental expenditure limits and their effects on the Welsh block grant.

Danny Alexander: Treasury ministers meet with their counterparts in the Welsh Government from time to time to discuss matters of mutual interest, including Welsh Government funding allocations.

Taxation: Developing Countries

Mark Durkan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what research he has commissioned into the implications for developing countries of the OECD Automatic Exchange of Tax Information.

Mr David Gauke: As made clear during our G8 Presidency, we are committed to helping developing countries benefit from increased tax transparency including the new global standard of automatic exchange of information. The G20 asked the Global Forum to produce a Roadmap setting out how developing countries can overcome obstacles to participate in automatic exchange. Since G20 Finance Ministers welcomed the Roadmap in September, my officials and their counterparts in DfID and HMRC have engaged in discussions with a number of developing countries on the possibility of piloting implementation of the new global standard. These discussions are ongoing.

Corporation Tax: Northern Ireland

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on the devolution of corporation tax in 2014.

Danny Alexander: In 2013 the UK Government and Northern Ireland Executive signed an economic pact taking forward a constructive and positive programme of work examining the potential for devolving Corporation Tax powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Children: Bury

Mr David Nuttall: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of families in Bury North constituency who will be eligible for support under the Childcare Payments Bill.

Andrea Leadsom: This information is not available.

Public Expenditure

Mr David Nuttall: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost of (a) preparing, (b) printing and (c) posting the personalised annual tax statements in 2014.

Mr David Gauke: The cost to prepare, print and post annual tax summaries was published in response to Parliamentary question number 213257 on 11 November 2014

Connaught Asset Management

Guto Bebb: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received on the Financial Conduct Authority's decision to extend the settlement negotiation period to January 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: Treasury Ministers and officials receive regular correspondence on a wide range of issues. We cannot disclose details of specific representations.   The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is an independent non-governmental body responsible for regulating and supervising the financial services industry within the framework of statutory objectives and duties agreed by Parliament. Although the Treasury is responsible for the legal framework, it has strictly limited powers in relation to the FCA. In particular the Treasury has no general power of direction over the FCA.

Infrastructure

Dan Jarvis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the reason is for the difference in the number of projects and programmes listed in the infrastructure pipeline data published by his Department in 2013 and 2014.

Danny Alexander: The government’s commitment to supporting infrastructure investment and delivery is a key element of its long-term economic plan. The infrastructure pipeline, now published twice a year, is a forward-looking bottom up assessment of planned infrastructure investment across the public and private sectors. It enhances visibility and certainty for investors and the supply chain and allows government to work more effectively to ensure that the UK’s infrastructure needs are met. The value of the infrastructure pipeline increased to £383bn at the 2014 summer refresh from £375bn in December 2013. The infrastructure pipeline published in December 2013 included a number of individual energy projects being considered by developers. However, as set out in the National Infrastructure Plan 2013 and in the pipeline itself, the number of potential projects being considered by developers exceeds expected demand. It is a sign of a competitive market when developers are considering more schemes than will be required, allowing only the most competitive schemes to come forward into development. Weighted assumptions were applied to the overall energy investment figures in the 2013 pipeline to reflect this. At the summer refresh, to provide as much clarity as possible for industry and investors, it was decided only to name energy projects where a final investment decision or other firm commitment had been made to a project as opposed to the previous approach which was largely based on those projects that had applied for connections. The remainder of the money which is anticipated to be spent in generation was then included in a balancing line. This reflects the fact that the government makes no judgment on the outcome of the competitive process between developers. This change in presentational structure did not affect the underlying modelling assumptions regarding the amount of anticipated investment.   The flood section of the pipeline in the December 2013 publication contained a large number of very small projects. At the summer refresh, the smaller schemes were grouped in to the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee programmes, with only the larger schemes being listed out individually. Further details on the full programme of works is available via the Environment Agency website. As with the changes to the energy section of the pipeline, this is for ease of reference and does not reflect any change to the overall level of planned floods investment. An update of the pipeline will be published alongside the National Infrastructure Plan this December

NHS: Finance

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received which make a case for more funding to be allocated to the NHS in the autumn statement.

Danny Alexander: We receive many representatives across policy areas for the Autumn Statement.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Annual Energy Statement of 6 November 2014, Official Report, column 984, what the evidential basis was for the statement that the UK is on target to meet its future low-carbon power requirements.

Amber Rudd: The estimated £45bn investment achieved in the electricity sector between 2010 and 2013 demonstrates good progress towards the further investment that we estimate is necessary between 2014 and 2020 (up to £100bn).

Fuel Poverty

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, pursuant to the Oral Answer of 6 November 2014, Official Report, column 959, on energy bills, what the evidential basis was for the statement that even more people will be taken out of fuel poverty as a result of the changes to the Energy Company Obligation in 2012.

Amber Rudd: The changes to ECO led to a ringfencing of support delivered to low income households up to 2015 and an extension of the overall scheme out to 2017. This additional support will take more people out of fuel poverty and improve the energy efficiency levels of all those who receive a measure. The Impact Assessment that quantified the effect of these changes showed that 10,000 fewer people would be in fuel poverty in comparison to not making any changes to ECO at all. This Impact Assessment can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/373650/ECO_IA_with_SoS_e-sigf_v2.pdf



Final IA: The Future of ECO
(PDF Document, 889.95 KB)

Private Rented Housing: Energy

Sir Andrew Stunell: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals to set out the detail of the minimum energy efficiency standards in the private rented sector required by the Energy Act 2011; and if he will make a statement.

Amber Rudd: A public consultation was carried out between 22 July and 2 September 2014 to seek views on the detailed proposals for a minimum energy efficiency standard in the private rented sector. The Government will issue its response in due course.

Energy Companies Obligation

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps Energy Companies Obligation (ECO) providers are taking to work with (a) Age UK and (b) similar organisations to make the ECO more accessible to elderly people.

Amber Rudd: All elements of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) are accessible to elderly people, depending on their precise circumstances.How ECO is delivered in practice depends primarily on the approach taken by energy suppliers. Many suppliers work in partnership with organisations, including in the third sector, to find customers to help under the scheme.In addition, Government has taken steps to help energy suppliers identify relevant households. This includes allowing data that is used to deliver the Warm Home Discount to be used for targeting ECO. We operate the Energy Saving Advice Service, which provides a specific service to refer low income households for support under Affordable Warmth. We have taken action to link the Warm Home Discount and ESAS call centres.

Fuel Poverty

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what forecast his Department has made of future levels of fuel poverty.

Amber Rudd: The projected number of households in fuel poverty and the aggregate future fuel poverty gap in England are shown in the link below:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/319280/Fuel_Poverty_Report_Final.pdf 



Annual Fuel Poverty Statistics Report 2014
(PDF Document, 1.93 MB)

Environment Protection

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate he has made of the number of people employed in the low carbon and environmental goods and services sector in each year since 2005.

Amber Rudd: Holding answer received on 20 November 2014



A report published by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills contains estimates of the number of jobs within the wider low carbon and environmental goods and services sector from 2007/08 to 2011/12 (figures for earlier years are not available) and can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-carbon-and-environmental-goods-and-services-2011-to-2012. 



LCEGS Underlying Data 2011-12
(Excel SpreadSheet, 198.5 KB)




LCEGS Report 2011-12
(PDF Document, 2.19 MB)

Energy Companies Obligation

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of funding from the Energy Companies Obligation directed to non-fuel-poor households.

Amber Rudd: The Energy Company Obligation (ECO) uses a range of proxies to find low income and vulnerable households at risk of fuel poverty. These proxies are used to define eligibility for the Affordable Warmth and Carbon Savings Community Obligation elements of ECO.

Biofuels

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, which official in his Department has lead responsibility for solid biomass fuel classifications.

Amber Rudd: The Department does not have responsibility for solid biomass fuel classifications.The development of solid biomass fuel classifications was an initiative of the industry in Europe to develop a common terminology and approaches for fuel classifications published through the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN).

Biofuels

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether (a) straw, (b) grass pellets and (c) other non-wood biomass fuels are included in the biomass suppliers list as approved fuels.

Amber Rudd: The existing Biomass Supplier List is available to suppliers of woodfuel, including Short Rotation Coppice (SRC). It is intended to be used by biomass participants in the domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and small-scale biomass participants in the non-domestic RHI, who predominately use woodfuel. It is not available to non-woodfuel biomass, such as straw and grass pellets.It is important that the industry takes the lead on demonstrating the sustainability of their feedstocks. To encourage this, the RHI regulations will allow for alternative biomass supplier lists to be setup by the industry for other non-woodfuel solid biomass fuels, provided that appropriate measures and procedures are in place and are subsequently approved by my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State.Additionally, straw, grass pellets and other non-wood biomass fuels, which are used mainly in the non-domestic sector, can be used in the non-domestic RHI scheme by self-reporting to Ofgem on the sustainability of the fuel. Installations with a boiler capacity below 1MW will not be required to obtain an independent audit of their sustainability reports.

Cabinet Office

Death

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people died from the effects of (a) tobacco, (b) alcohol and (c) cannabis in the last year for which figures are available.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply. 



ONS Letter to Member - Tobacco and Alcohol Deaths
(PDF Document, 154.5 KB)

Department for Culture Media and Sport

World War I: Anniversaries

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to mark the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign in the First World War.

Mrs Helen Grant: On 14 November 2014 the Prime Minster announced three key events to mark the Centenary of the Gallipoli Campaign and honour the fallen, who so bravely fought for their nations. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cape Helles Memorial in Turkey will host a UK-led Commonwealth and Ireland ceremony on 24 April 2015. On 25 April 2015 the National Commemoration of the Centenary of the Gallipoli Campaign and Anzac Day, a special centenary event led by the UK Government, will be held at the Cenotaph in London. On 6 August 2015 the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth will host an event based upon the refurbished HMS M33, the last surviving ship from the campaign. I am extremely honoured to be part of such celebrations of immense bravery. This Government and DCMS is committed to marking the centenary of the Gallipoli campaign in the First World War with respect uppermost in our minds.

Broadband: Scotland

Iain McKenzie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if he will discuss with his Scottish counterpart the roll-out of superfast broadband for the West Coast of Scotland and those parts of central Scotland which do not yet have access to superfast broadband; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: This Government is committed to the roll-out of Superfast Broadband throughout the UK and I enjoy regular discussions with the Secretary of State for Scotland regarding delivery of superfast broadband in Scotland. The Government has already contributed £100.80m to projects to increase the provision of broadband in Scotland. I am pleased to note that we have made a further £21m available to the Scottish Government to further extend coverage as part of the second phase of the Superfast Broadband Programme. At the end of October 2014, the Superfast Broadband Programme ‘Rest of Scotland Project’ had provided fibre coverage to 113,000 premises and the ‘Highland and Islands Project’ had covered 28,400 premises.

Mobile Phones

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what impact assessment his Department conducted on the duration of its consultation on tackling partial not-spots in mobile phone coverage.

Mr Edward Vaizey: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave on the 17th November to the Hon. Member for Inverclyde

Aerials

Mr Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress his Department has made on constructing mobile masts under the Mobile Infrastructure Project.

Mr Edward Vaizey: Through the Mobile Infrastructure Project the Government is investing up to £150 million to improve coverage in areas with no coverage for voice calls or text messages. The project aims to address coverage in the final 0.3-0.4% of the population without basic coverage, and increase 3G and 4G coverage across sites within the network. I am pleased to announce our strong progress with identifying suitable sites and we are working towards confirming network connections, and acquiring sites and planning permissions.

Department of Health

Pregnancy Tests

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to ensure the impartiality and neutrality of members of the panel on hormone pregnancy tests.

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when the Independent Panel on Hormone Pregnancy Tests will be set up; and what time frame he has set for that inquiry.

George Freeman: Membership of the Group is currently being convened and will be finalised in December 2014. The time frame for the inquiry has yet to be finalised but the Panel is expected to review the evidence in the early months of 2015.   Members of the Expert Working Group on Hormone Pregnancy Tests will be expected to declare any interests (financial or non-financial) in the pharmaceutical industry or in any other area that could affect their impartiality. All members’ interests will be carefully considered in advance and assessed when deciding on the appropriate level of participation in discussions.

Cancer

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will produce a new national cancer plan for the next Parliament which prioritises the importance of early diagnosis.

Jane Ellison: Achieving earlier diagnosis of cancer is key to our ambition to save an additional 5,000 lives per year by 2014-15 and improve cancer outcomes and survival.   Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer, (January 2011) set out the Government’s ambition to close the gap in survival outcomes by 2014-15 and the strategy is backed with more than £750 million over this spending review period (four years), including more than £450 million to achieve early diagnosis.   Along with NHS England and Public Health England, we will publish the latest progress on commitments and initiatives outlined in the plan in the fourth annual report.

World AIDS Day

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what events he and his ministerial team are supporting on World AIDS Day.

Jane Ellison: I will attend a Terrence Higgins Trust event on 24 November and I am hosting an event for Wandsworth Oasis, an HIV charity serving my constituency on 27 November. I will also be attending the European Union Health Council on 1 December, and will raise the issue with ministerial colleagues. Other Ministerial plans are still to be finalised.

Cancer

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the benefits to the gathering of data on local cancer service standards of the National Cancer Peer Review programme.

Jane Ellison: NHS England is currently reviewing the National Cancer Peer Review programme with a view to considering how its success might be extended into other new areas of specialised commissioning. This review will consider the benefits of the programme. Regardless of the outcome of this review, cancer peer review will continue to play a critical part of any broader peer review programme NHS England may look to introduce.

Cancer

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that GPs have improved and timely access to a range of diagnostic tests where cancer is suspected in presenting patients.

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support he is providing to GPs and other healthcare professionals to aid in recognising and acting on symptoms which could be cancer.

Jane Ellison: Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer (January 2011) is backed by an additional £750 million over the four year Spending Review period including over £450 million to achieve early diagnosis. The earlier diagnosis money is designed to support improved direct general practitioner (GP) access to four key diagnostic tests to support the diagnosis of brain tumours, bowel, lung, and ovarian cancers; and increased testing and treatment costs in secondary care. GPs are able to access these tests directly in cases where the two-week urgent referral pathway is not appropriate but a patient’s symptoms require further investigation. The intention is that more people presenting with relevant symptoms will be tested and at an earlier stage.   In 2012, the Department published ‘Direct access to diagnostic tests for cancer: best practice referral pathways for general practitioners’ to provide criteria for accessing these diagnostic tests. NHS England monitors the use of these diagnostic tests through the Diagnostic Imaging Dataset. We delivered a record 1.6 million diagnostic tests in July 2014 compared to 1.2 million in May 2010.   The earlier diagnosis money also supports centrally led Be Clear on Cancer (BCOC) symptom awareness campaigns to raise the public’s awareness of cancer symptoms and encourage people with persistent symptoms to go to the doctor. Since 2011 the Department and Public Health England (since 2013) in partnership with NHS England (including NHS Improving Quality) and other stakeholders have run national BCOC campaigns for bladder and kidney, bowel, breast and lung cancers; regional campaigns for ovarian, oesophagogastric cancers, and local pilot campaigns to raise awareness of four symptoms of unexplained bleeding, lump, pain, and weight loss; and awareness of skin and prostate cancers. As part of the BCOC campaign process, the Department, Public Health England, and NHS England have worked with Cancer Research UK and other partners to develop briefing sheets to support GPs and other healthcare professionals during the campaigns.   More generally, to increase awareness of cancer amongst GPs, the Department supported British Medical Journal (BMJ) Learning to develop and launch an on-line learning tool for GPs in 2012. The tool offers accredited professional development and includes four modules - tackling late diagnosis; risk assessment tools; cancer pathway and the role of primary care; and diagnosing osteosarcoma and brain tumours in children with an additional section on communication skills. The tool can be accessed at:   http://learning.bmj.com/learning/home.html.   In 2013, Macmillan Cancer Support, partly funded by the Department, piloted an electronic cancer decision support (CDS) tool for GPs to use in their routine practice. It is designed to help GPs recognise the symptoms of cancer and identify patients that they might not otherwise refer urgently for suspected cancer. The CDS covers lung, colorectal, oesophagogastric, ovarian and pancreatic cancers and a new symptom checker for melanoma. Following the pilot, Macmillan Cancer Support is now able to offer the tool, free of charge to all GPs in the United Kingdom.   In addition to this, since 2005, the Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer, published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has supported GPs to identify patients with the symptoms of suspected cancer and urgently refer them as appropriate. NICE is in the process of updating this guidance to ensure that it reflects the latest evidence and the anticipated publication date for the revised guidelines is May 2015.

Primary Health Care

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support and promote Self Care Week which runs from 17 to 23 November 2014; and what promotional materials he is disseminating in the NHS to support this campaign.

George Freeman: The Department supports Self-Care week and my noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Earl Howe), gave the opening presentation at the 16th Self-Care Forum. In his speech, Earl Howe promoted the use of the self-care leaflets, posters and social media messages disseminated by the Self-Care Forum. He also highlighted that self-care information and guidance (including fact sheets for 13 common ailments) is available on NHS Choices, Patient UK and a number of other websites.

Drugs: Licensing

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinicians he consulted when developing his policy in relation to the Off-patent Drugs Bill.

Dr Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many clinicians not affiliated with his Department and NHS England his Department consulted on the Off-patent Drugs Bill.

George Freeman: We have not consulted on this Bill. In developing our response to the Bill, we have taken advice from clinicians and officials at NHS England, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and taken account of views expressed by other stakeholder organisations.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, who in his Department is responsible for implementation of the Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England.

Jane Ellison: The Department published the Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in March 2013. Implementation is locally led but the Department monitors the ambitions in the Framework and will shortly publish a progress report. Public Health England provides support, data and intelligence both nationally and locally to help meet the Department’s aspirations as set out in the Framework.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the consequences for public health of prostitution and sex trafficking; and what steps he is taking to minimise those consequences.

Jane Ellison: We recognise sexual abuse in all its forms as an issue of public health importance. Protecting People Promoting Health, published in 2012 (a copy has been placed in the Library), sets out where public health can make a difference to better prevention.   Our most recent assessment of the evidence confirms that sex workers are one of the most socially excluded groups and have some of the worst health outcomes in the population. Studies indicate that that in excess of 85% of street sex workers report using heroin, and 87% crack cocaine. They also suffer poor mental health and far higher levels of acute and chronic illness than the general population. Improving their health outcomes – and the outcomes of other vulnerable groups – is a challenge but it is the best way to improve public health. We are addressing these issues through the Inclusion Health programme. The programme has published advice and guidance to help the health system understand better the needs of these groups, commission services in a way that reflect these needs, and remove barriers to care. This is underpinned by the first-ever health inequalities duty to ensure that health services take account of excluded and vulnerable groups in planning their services.   The inter-Departmental Ministerial Group on Modern Slavery oversee and co-ordinate anti-modern slavery efforts across the United Kingdom. Modern slavery including sex trafficking has a devastating impact on the physical, psychological and emotional wellbeing of victims. The National Referral Mechanism is a framework for identifying victims of human trafficking and ensuring they receive the appropriate protection and support. Sexual Assault Referral Centres Services (SARCs) are available to all victims of sexual abuse including people trafficked for sex. A number of SARCs work jointly with the voluntary sector on the “National Ugly Mugs” scheme, which works by sharing information on violent or potentially dangerous clients and known criminals, making it easier to report attacks.   The Department has also made an e-learning tool available in April 2013, to help health professionals identify victims or trafficking and respond to their needs.

HIV Infection

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to tackle the stigma around HIV and AIDS.

Jane Ellison: In 2013 the Department published the Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England which highlights the need for organisations and individuals to continue to tackle the stigma and prejudice often associated with HIV and sexual health.   The Department also funds the Terrence Higgins Trust for the HIV Prevention England (HPE) programme. HPE helps to tackle stigma by social marketing programmes and working closely with HIV voluntary organisations to provide health promotion information including, on HIV testing. Public Health England is supporting the development of the People Living with HIV Stigma Index, which will be rolled-out in the United Kingdom in 2015.

HIV Infection

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he expects home testing HIV kits to become available for use throughout the UK.

Jane Ellison: The Department removed the ban on the sale of HIV self-testing kits in April 2014. Before HIV self-testing kits can be placed on the European market they must meet the quality and safety requirements of the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices European Union Directive. While HIV home sampling kits are already available for use throughout the United Kingdom, we are not aware that any HIV self-testing kits meet these requirements yet.

Genito-urinary Medicine

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when he plans to publish the Public Health England review of sexual health services.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England’s (PHE) review of sexual health services is currently being prepared, with a view to data collection being completed early in 2015. The analysis and report writing will follow and PHE plan to publish their review of sexual health services in summer 2015.

Dietary Supplements

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent research he has commissioned into the health benefits of fish oils.

George Freeman: The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Evaluation, Trials and Studies Coordinating Centre manages the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation programme. With funding from the Medical Research Council, this programme is currently supporting a £1.5 million trial to find out if an omega-3 fatty acid called EPA found naturally in fish oil, on its own or in combination with aspirin, can prevent the development of bowel polyps.   The NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London has recently co-funded research published in the journal Biological Psychiatry that found that omega-3 fatty acids reduce the rates of depression among patients with high levels of inflammation.   The NIHR/Wellcome Trust Imperial Clinical Research Facility is currently hosting a study on whether fish oil helps people to lose weight.

Opiates

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were given an opiate-based treatment (a) within a hospital, (b) on prescription and (c) otherwise in the last 12 months.

George Freeman: Information on the number of people given a particular medicine or type of medicine is not available.   Information on the number of packs of opiate-based medicines dispensed by National Health Service hospital pharmacies in England for 2013-14 is shown in table 1.   Table 1: Number of packs dispensed in hospital pharmacies Chemical NameNumber of packs dispensed in hospital pharmacies(secondary care)(000s)Buprenorphine98.2Buprenorphine/Naloxone0.9Codeine1,856.5Dextromethorphan0.7Diamorphine210.4Dihydrocodeine335.2Fentanyl590.7Hydromorphone2.1Meptazinol6.3Methadone77.8Morphine1,492.5Oxycodone333.2Oxycodone/Naloxone3.4Pethidine46.9Pholcodine3.0Tapentadol4.7Tramadol954.4Other10.1 1 Includes Opium, Pentazocine Source: Hospital Pharmacy Audit Index (HPAI) provided by IMS Health   Information on the number of opiate-based medicines items dispensed on prescription in the community in England in 2013-14 for treatments under the following British National Formulary (BNF) chapters is shown in table 2.   Table 2: Prescription items dispensed in the community BNF chapterChemical NamePrescription items dispensed in the community (primary care)(000s)3.9.1 Cough SuppressantsPholcodine300.1Codeine Phosphate194.5Other20.54.7.2 Opioid AnalgesicsTramadol Hydrochloride8,002.4Codeine Phosphate3,934.8Morphine Sulfate3,734.0Dihydrocodeine Tartrate1,877.6Buprenorphine1,679.5Oxycodone Hydrochloride1,197.2Fentanyl1,177.2Diamorphine Hydrochloride (Systemic)120.8Oxycodone Hydrochloride/ Naloxone Hydrochloride76.8Methadone Hydrochloride70.9Meptazinol Hydrochloride67.7Tapentadol Hydrochloride48.1Pethidine Hydrochloride38.3Dipipanone Hydrochloride15.3Hydromorphone Hydrochloride10.1Other36.94.10.3 Opioid DependenceMethadone Hydrochloride2,544.6Buprenorphine Hydrochloride873.4Buprenorph Hydrochloride/ Naloxone Hydrochloride142.7 2 Includes Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide, Methadone Hydrochloride, Diamorphine Hydrochloride 3 Includes Pentazocine Hydrochloride, Morphine Tartrate and Cyclizine Tartrate, Dextromoramide Tartrate, Papaveretum, Morphine Hydrochloride, Pentazocine Lactate, Oxycodone, Powdered Opium Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre   Information on opiate-based medicines not provided through the NHS e.g. those bought over the counter or provided by private hospitals, is not collected.

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many hospitals have been rated poor for infection control and cleanliness in each month since May 2010.

Dr Daniel Poulter: We are advised that the information is not available in the form requested broken down by month since 2010. Information for the last two years on infection control and cleanliness is publicly available through NHS Choices at   http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/patientsafety/safety-indicators/   The 2014 data show that there are 35 hospitals rated as ‘among the worst’. However, it should be noted that significant improvements have been made by the National Health Service in addressing overall levels of Meticillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus and clostridium difficile bloodstream infections. These infections have fallen by 57% and 45% respectively since May 2010.

Nurses

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which hospitals have not met their staffing requirements for registered nurse day hours in each month since May 2010.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The information is not available for the period requested. As part of the Government’s commitment to ensure safer staffing levels, NHS England introduced mandatory reporting of monthly actual and planned nursing and midwifery staffing levels by hospital wards in May of this year.   The attached tables show trusts in England for May to September, where monthly average fill rates for registered nursing staff during the day were less than 100%. 



Registered Nursing Staff Table
(Excel SpreadSheet, 43.86 KB)

Health Services: Veterans

Gemma Doyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many veterans have been referred for priority NHS treatment since May 2010.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department and NHS England do not centrally collect on the number of veterans that have been referred for priority National Health Service treatment for service related issues but the hon. Member will be pleased to know that we have invested £22 million in a package of additional specialist resources to equip our NHS to provide better care for veterans, including:   - 9 specialist prosthetic centres for veterans; - 10 Specialist veterans mental health teams; - a 24 hour veterans mental health hotline; and - an online mental health and wellbeing service for veterans.

NHS Foundation Trusts

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will collect information on the number and occupations of agency and contract workers employed by NHS foundation trusts.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The Department does not hold information on the number and occupations of contract and agency staff employed by National Health Service hospitals and NHS foundation trusts.

Multiple Sclerosis: Drugs

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the ability of people to access Sativex in the NHS.

George Freeman: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published an updated clinical guideline on the management of multiple sclerosis in primary and secondary care in October 2014, in which Sativex (nabiximols) is not recommended for treating spasticity.   National Health Service commissioners must consider requests to fund Sativex in line with the NHS Constitution.

Health Services: Arts

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, which NHS trusts possess (a) an arts for health and (b) a music for health team.

Dr Daniel Poulter: The information requested is not collected centrally.   The value of arts and music to health is recognised and most mental health trusts provide arts/music therapy for their patients. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommends offering arts therapies to all people with schizophrenia, particularly for the alleviation of negative symptoms. It recommends starting art therapies during all stages of the condition.   The Department of Health, Public Health England and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are working together to promote the arts within the health sector in order to improve health and wellbeing.

NHS

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2013 to Question 158873, which 28 NHS front-line services, and which seven accident and emergency departments, he has visited since September 2012.

Dr Daniel Poulter: My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health has undertaken visits to the following NHS front line services and accident and emergency departments since September 2012. Here is the list of all front line visits undertaken since September 2012 including the 28 front line and seven accident and emergency departments alluded to in answer to Question 158873. Secretary of State for Health (Mr Jeremy Hunt) 13 September 2012St Thomas' Hospital11 October 2012Royal Marsden (Fulham site) AHPF18 October 2012Adelaide Medical Centre18 October 2012University College Hospital18 October 2012Camden CCG and Rushmore House Home19 October 2012Hammerton Court and Norfolk dementia care academy1 November 2012Kettering Hospital13 November 2012Kings College Hospital5 December 2012University Hospital South11 December 2012Guy's Hospital13 December 2012Mid Staffordshire Hospital19 December 2012Great Ormond Street10 January 2013Heart of Kent Hospice11 January 2013Royal Surrey County Hospital28 January 2013Airedale Hospital11 February 2013Norton Care Home21 March 2013Worthing Hospital3 April 2013St Thomas' Hospital4 April 2013Newham Hospital5 April 2013Salford Royal Hospital12 April 2013Watford General Hospital18 April 2013George Eliot Hospital26 April 2013Frome Medical Centre26 April 2013Shepton Mallett Hospital9 May 2013Hurley GP Practice9 May 2013Chelsea and Westminster Hospital16 May 2013Brocklebank Group Practice16 May 2013Kings College Hospital23 May 2013University College London Hospital24 May 2013Banstead Ambulance Call Centre7 June 2013Royal Surrey County Hospital13 June 2013Royal Hospital Chelsea21 June 2013University College London Hospital27 June 2013Pentelow Practice GP surgery5 July 2013Earls Court Health and Well-being centre5 July 2013Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust24 July 2013Guys and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust6 August 2013Kings College London NHS Foundation Trust5 September 2013Medical Practice GP surgery12 September 2013Woodside Care Home13 September 2013Richmond House Care Home3 October 2013Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital10 October 2013Harrogate Hospital18 October 2013Kings College Hospital14 November 2013Nightingale House Care Home28 November 2013University College London Hospital28 November 2013Royal Brompton10 December 2013Royal Surrey County Hospital23 December 2013Woodside Care Home4th August 2014Royal County Surrey Hospital26 August 2014Royal Marsden Hospital (Fulham Site)28 August 2014Royal Free Hospital4 September 2014Greenwich Better Care Fund Pioneer Site18 September 2014Medway Maritime Hospital16 October 2014Birmingham Children's Hospital6 November 2014Wycombe Hospital Buckinghamshire Healthcare Visits specifically to Accident and Emergency Units 3 April 2013St Thomas' Hospital11 April 2013Watford General Hospital9 May 2013Chelsea and Westminster20 June 2013Royal Victoria Infirmary4 July 2013Calderdale Royal Hospital8 August 2013Queen Elizabeth Hospital23 January 2014London Ambulance Service

Radiotherapy

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 41 of section 1.5.1 of Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review, published by NHS England on 3 November 2014, what the supportive literature is verifying the clinical efficiency of all three delivery systems.

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 43 of section 1.5.1 of Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Radiotherapy Services Needs Assessment and Service Review, published by NHS England on 3 November 2014, what the evidence is that there are no significant differences between the machines delivering its treatments.

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to paragraph 42 of section 1.5.1 of Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Radiotherapy (SRT) Services Needs Assessment and Service Review, published by NHS England on 3 November 2014, which hospitals deliver SRS and SRT to tumours in the brain without the use of a frame.

Jane Ellison: The evidence used by the Clinical Reference Group for Stereotactic Radiosurgery to form their opinions on the effective delivery of Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Radiotherapy (SRT) is referenced in their publication ‘Clinical Commissioning Policy: Stereotactic Radiosurgery / Stereotactic Radiotherapy for Cerebral Metastases’ which is attached.   The information on which providers use frames in the provision SRS and SRT is not held centrally. 



Stereotatic Radiosurgery Commissioning Policy
(PDF Document, 345.83 KB)